


But They Were Happy.

by AnonymousAvocados



Category: IT (1990), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Freaky Friday Fusion, Bisexual Disaster Richie Tozier, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Body Swap, Closeted, Closeted Character, Closeted Eddie Kaspbrak, Closeted Richie Tozier, Coming Out, Coming of Age, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Freaky Friday - Freeform, Gay Disaster Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Internal Conflict, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mentioned Pennywise (IT), Post-Pennywise (IT), Reddie, Richie Tozier - Freeform, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenagers, body switch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23203795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousAvocados/pseuds/AnonymousAvocados
Summary: A teen reddie Freaky-Friday AU. Where Richie and Eddie wake up in each other's bodies and have to figure it out from there.For caliceal on tumblr. :)
Relationships: Bill Denbrough & Mike Hanlon & Ben Hanscom & Eddie Kaspbrak & Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough & Mike Hanlon & Ben Hanscom & Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak & The Losers Club, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, The Losers Club & Richie Tozier, The Losers Club & The Losers Club (IT)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 73





	1. I Tolerate You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [caliceal](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=caliceal).



> Hey! This fic is dedicated to caliceal on tumblr (gwenjamin3000 on Instagram). So I've got one other work up for Gwen (Flying) that I haven't updated in a while. My inspiration was waning and I was very busy, but [REDACTED]virus is giving me a chance to relax and write. So a new chapter of that will hopefully be up soon!
> 
> In the meantime, enjoy the first (but not last!) chapter of But They Were Happy. I think it turned out pretty alright. :p

Richie and Eddie had been friends since the fifth grade. They were seventeen now, going into their senior year of high school, and they were thick as thieves. Very little about their friendship changed over the years. When they were together, they felt like little kids again. And that was good, sometimes; but sometimes things needed to be more serious, and they were good at that, too. Their relationship was concrete and full of trust, even though it often didn't appear that way. Richie liked to annoy, to poke fun, to tease. He would get himself into dangerous situations just so Eddie would worry over him. In fact, almost everything he did around Eddie was in order to get Eddie's attention, to get his affection and laughter.

The main thing about Richie and Eddie was that they were obviously, hopelessly in love with each other and had been for years. Eddie repressed it; Richie _suppressed_ it. There was a difference between the two, for sure, but they bore the same outcome.

Eddie rarely slept over places. His mother didn't like it, and he often felt awkward sleeping in houses that weren't his own. He'd always felt comfortable in Richie's house, though, which is what made their once-in-a-blue-moon sleepovers so much fun.

Also, Richie was a dumbass. That made it fun, too.

"Richie, I swear to god, _stop."_

It was probably the billionth time Eddie had said that, and probably the millionth time it had been because Richie kept poking him.

"I can't believe you're still ticklish." Richie poked Eddie in the side yet again, and Eddie made a hum of disapproval, swatting his hand away.

"It doesn't just go away, asshole." Eddie looked up at Richie. _"Can_ it just go away?"

"You can build up a tolerance to it, I think." Richie stood up off of the bed, opting instead to pace around the room. "I could help you with that."

"Don't you dare." Eddie was laying on his stomach on Richie's bed, ankles locked and legs swinging loosely in the air as he skimmed one of Richie's many comics.

"Oh, but, Eddie, my sweet, you look so cute when you're getting tickled." Richie cooed, wiggling his fingers in Eddie's direction.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He scoffed.

"No can do, Eds. My mouth is always running." Richie replied, skimming his fingers over the faded posters on his wall.

The fact that Richie was moving around so much actually made Eddie feel very safe. It was something Richie always did, he was always moving, and Eddie had grown accustomed to the background movements. It was like a visual noise machine.

"I know, it's almost unbearable." Eddie turned the page in his comic.

He felt a strange sort of prickling then- but a familiar one, a familiar instinct. Because Richie was silent. So something was wrong.

"Yeah, sorry." Richie said on a little sigh. He heard those kinds of phrases a lot, but it always stung a little coming from Eddie.

Eddie felt guilty. Whenever he hurt Richie's feelings, it was like kicking a puppy. "Hey, Rich, you know I didn't mean it. I'm just joking." Eddie said, looking up from his comic to meet Richie's eyes (he had to tilt his head back to do so, Richie was too fucking tall, honestly). A small smile tugged at his lips, and Richie's followed suit. "You're not unbearable."

Richie smiled a little wider as Eddie turned his attention back to the comic. He walked back over to the bed and flopped down onto it, parallel to Eddie. Eddie made a noise of annoyance as the bed shifted.

"You love me." Richie was grinning now, hands tucked behind his head.

"I tolerate you." Eddie didn't look up from the brightly-colored pages in front of him.

Richie flipped onto his side, facing Eddie. "Nah, you love me."

He reached down and pinched Eddie's thigh, which was peeking out from his favorite pair of red shorts. Richie knew they were his favorite because Eddie always packed them whenever he was leaving his house; trips, sleepovers, you name it- the shorts were there. Richie thought those shorts, along with Eddie's inhaler, were probably comfort items.

Eddie made a hum of disapproval, face shifting to Irritation and body shifting an inch or two away from Richie. "Stop."

Richie was a very touchy-feely person, and he wanted attention; thus, he touched. He poked Eddie's cheek.

Eddie swatted his hand away, his face screwing up even more. "Stop."

Richie began repeatedly poking Eddie's arm. He was practically screaming _Give me attention. Give me attention. Give me attention._ But when wasn't he? Eddie was very used to it by now. He secretly found it a little endearing.

Finally, Eddie turned to face Richie, looking very pissed off and a little weary. "What do you want?"

Richie blinked. He smiled. "Nothing."

"Dickhead." Eddie went back to his comic, flipping the page.

Richie skimmed the words of the comic for a few seconds. He knew this one well. Eddie was just getting to the good part.

Richie looked back to Eddie's face. Eddie looked more passive now that Richie wasn't poking at him, eyes calmly gliding across the pages of the book, lips pursed a little in concentration. His hair was a little more unkept than usual, falling into his face just above his eyes, which were shining- almost as if they were glowing from within- in the dim light of Richie's room.

Richie didn't think he'd ever fully get over how pretty Eddie was. Not just pretty, _beautiful._ Ethereal. A fucking masterpiece. Fuck Sonia Kaspbrak, but at least she had put this angel onto the earth.

It was summer now. Richie always loved summer, because Eddie's appearance changed a little. He was tanner, he had more freckles, his eyes were so much brighter and warmer in the sun, almost an orange color. Also, the shorts came back out, and Richie loved the shorts probably more than Eddie did.  
Eddie smiled a lot more during the summer, too. His mother would hardly ever let him outside during the winter, but Eddie had a lot more free rein in the summer. And Richie felt honored that Eddie usually spent most of that time with him.

Richie was being unnaturally quiet again, lost in thought, and Eddie noticed. Eddie looked over and felt his heart jump a little when he saw that Richie was already looking at him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Eddie asked.

"Huh?" Richie blinked. Eddie couldn't tell if Richie hadn't heard him or if he had and he was just confused.

"What's wrong?" Eddie repeated, carefully placing the comic down on the bed. "You're being so quiet. You were staring. Something's obviously on your mind."

Richie shrugged, breaking eye contact. He paused for a moment. "No."

Eddie frowned. Richie was acting so serious, almost guilty, like a child caught misbehaving. This was highly unusual. It made Eddie nervous.

"Richie, d- hey, look at me." Richie's eyes flickered to Eddie's, and the former smiled a little, nervously. _Richie never got nervous._ Eddie went on, "Don't lie to me. You can tell me anything, you know that, right? So what's going on?" Eddie's eyes widened a little, and Richie knew exactly what he was about to say. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling fine, Eddie." Richie rolled his eyes, but he didn't stop Eddie from checking him for a fever. It was nice to have Eddie's hand on his face. Eddie had such a light touch.

"You're not warm." Eddie ignored him. "Have you eaten enough today?"

"I'm _okay,_ I'm not feeling sick." Richie reiterated, sitting up. He was used to this.

Eddie sat up, too, facing Richie. He worried his lip between his teeth, thinking the situation over. He spoke again. "Then what's wrong?"

"I'm just thinking." Richie said. It was the truth, but not the full truth.

Of course, Eddie pushed further. "About what?"

Richie paused for a moment. Eddie could see the gears turning in his head. Richie lifted a hand up and brushed Eddie's hair out of his face, then cupped the side of Eddie's face. Eddie tilted his head to the side a little in confusion, but he didn't move away.

"Mostly..." Richie sighed.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. Surely this would end in some sort of stupid joke.

Richie bit his lip before speaking again. He looked very nervous.

"Mostly," He repeated. His eyes flickered to Eddie's lips for just a second. His breath hitched, something changed in his eyes, and he grinned. "Fucking your mom." Richie laughed as he pulled away from Eddie, heart racing. He felt an empty sort of sadness settle over him.

Eddie rolled his eyes, trying to calm his own racing heart. _Of course._

"You're so fucking stupid." Eddie shook his head. He was, a little bit, genuinely angry. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like Richie had just cheated him of something.

"I think you mean _hilarious._ " Richie laughed, though it was rather forced.

"Did not." Eddie scoffed. Richie poked him in the side, and he giggled.

"How come you're laughing, then?" Richie teased, continuing to poke at him.

Eddie squirmed away, still laughing. "Because you're poking me, asshole! Quit it!"

Richie wanted to capture that moment forever. Eddie, laughing, cheeks flushed, everything happy and relaxed. Moments like these made all the bad things wash away. Moments like these made him feel so incredibly lucky.

 _Fuck it,_ Richie thought.

And then he grabbed Eddie's face in both of his hands. Before Eddie could register what was happening, Richie's lips were on his in a rather forceful and clumsy kiss, but a kiss nonetheless, glasses bumping against freckled skin. Clumsy or not, Eddie felt a spark. More like a fire, actually. He felt warm like this.

But Richie quickly pulled back, dropping his hands into his lap. His eyes were wider than Eddie had ever seen them- which was saying something, as Richie's thick glasses already magnified his eyes to an extreme. Eddie had never in his life seen Richie look so scared. He passively wondered if Richie was scared of _him,_ but he didn't dwell on that for long.

Eddie blinked. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out except, "Oh."

"I'm sorry." Richie choked. He coughed a couple of times, simultaneously scooting away from Eddie on the bed, absolutely recoiling. "I'm so sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry."

Eddie cautiously reached his fingers up to touch his lips. He licked his lips on instinct, then regretted it- _germs._

"You kissed me." Eddie stated bluntly, staring blankly into the middle distance.

"Oh my god." Richie pushed his glasses up onto his forehead, covering his eyes with that hand. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay." Eddie said instinctively, but it was jerky and unnatural, and he clearly didn't mean it.

He finally dragged his eyes up to Richie, who was peeking out at him from between his fingers. Eddie swallowed. The room was absolutely silent, save for their breathing and the faint chirping of birds and rustling of leaves outside of the window.

Finally, Eddie spoke again. "I mean, it was just, like... the mood. The mood in the room just... right?"

Neither of them really knew what he was saying.

"Yes. Right. Exactly." Richie nodded, settling his glasses back onto his nose.

"It didn't mean anything." Eddie added. It was spoken as a statement, but his expression made it clear that it was really a desperate question, almost a plea.

"No, obviously it didn't." Richie lied.

"Okay." Eddie said. He paused. "I'm not gay."

"Me, neither." Richie agreed.

"So..." Eddie trailed off, eyes wandering to the window in order to avoid Richie's gaze. He could feel his face burning, and he didn't want to look at Richie's face burning, because Richie looked so pretty all rosy like that.

"So..." Richie echoed. "So that's it, then."

"Yeah," Eddie said, picking his comic up again and laying it in his lap. "That's it." Eddie turned his attention to the well-loved pages, completely shutting Richie out.

Richie stood up out of the bed suddenly, backing away towards the door. "I gotta go take a piss." He darted out of the room before Eddie could reply.

Richie cried in the bathroom for a few minutes (he'd never admit that, though), gathered himself, then headed back out to his room, where Eddie was sitting in the exact same position as when Richie had left.

It was only 7:00pm.  
This was going to be one hell of a night.

Eddie slept on the bed, and Richie slept on the floor. That was how it always was, even though they were at Richie's house. Eddie always got the bed. Richie never minded.

Before this, awkward silences hadn't been a thing between Richie and Eddie. There were never uncomfortable moments of silent tension. But this was the most awkward silence either had ever experienced, and neither liked it very fucking much.

Eventually, though, they both drifted off to sleep. And, of course, they did not further discuss what had happened.  
Why would they do that?


	2. The Switch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel pretty meh about this chapter. I hope you all like it!

Richie woke up first.

He woke up in his bed. At first, this was normal. Then he remembered that Eddie had slept over, and Eddie always got the bed. Had they switched places? Eddie wasn't lying beside him, so he was either on the floor or out of the room... what the fuck?

Richie rolled over and peered over the side of the bed to see if Eddie was on the floor. He let out an involuntary gasp, eyes going wide.

_Richie_ was on the floor. 

Sort of. Obviously, he was on the bed, where he'd woken up. But Richie Tozier's face and body were sleeping on the floor.

Richie's brain couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. A fucking clone of himself? Jesus, he needed his glasses-

But then he realized he _didn't._

Richie brought a hand up to feel his face. Nope, he wasn't wearing his glasses. But he could see perfectly well.

He didn't have time to think about this, though, because the Richie on the floor began to stir.

Richie was frozen in fear and shock. The Richie on the floor stretched uncomfortably, wincing, then sat up and opened his eyes.

He blinked, expression alarmed and confused. He rubbed his eyes, then blinked a few more times. He looked around him, gaze slowly reaching Richie. The Richie on the floor recoiled back in alarm.

"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, then his expression shifted to absolute confusion. "Woah. What? Wh- wait, what happened to my vo- no, who are you?" He turned his attention back to Richie.

Richie realized floor Richie couldn't see without his glasses. Shakily, silently, he reached down, grabbed the glasses, and offered them to floor Richie.

Floor Richie cautiously took them, looking very bewildered, and put them on. He looked back up at Richie and let out an odd squawk of fright, scrambling back even more on the floor before jumping to his feet. Richie sat up on the bed.

"You look like me. Y-you're _me._ " Floor Richie spluttered.

" _You_ look like _me._ " Richie replied. He immediately donned the same expression floor Richie had when bed first spoken. Richie's voice was so much higher than usual. Richie shifted on the bed so that his legs were hanging off the side, in case he needed to run.

"And you sound like me. Why do I not sound like me?" Floor Richie took on an accusatory stance then, almost angry. "Who _are_ you?"

"Richie. Richie Tozier." Richie said, completely lost. "And you're... also Richie? Also me?"

"What? I'm not Richie." Floor Richie replied. "And you're not Richie, either, you're me."

Richie stood up out of the bed. The first thing he noticed was how much taller floor Richie was than him. And then it clicked.

"You're... hold on, _Eddie?_ " Richie squinted.

"Yeah, how do you know that?" Floor Richie- or, apparently, Eddie- crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh my god. Holy shit." Richie put a hand on his head in amazement. "Eddie. Dude, I'm Richie. Seriously, I- if you're Eddie, then, like, you have- wait, just look."

Richie headed for the door, gesturing wildly for Eddie to follow him. Eddie hesitantly did. Richie led him down the hall and to the bathroom, where he flicked the lights on and looked in the mirror.

"Holy shit." He whispered.

Sure enough, Richie was in Eddie's body. Which meant that Eddie...

Eddie entered the bathroom, looked in the mirror, looked at Richie in alarm, then back in the mirror.

"Eddie, we switched bodies." Richie marveled aloud.

"Oh my god." Eddie said.

For the average person, this kind of scenario would be very difficult to believe. However, in Richie and Eddie's case, they had witnessed events far more outlandish than this, and honestly, it wasn't too difficult to fathom.

"So you're Richie?" Eddie asked, still looking in the mirror.

"Yeah. And you're Eddie?" Richie replied.

"Yeah." Eddie nodded. "So we did switch bodies. What the fuck? Why?"

"Fuck if I know." Richie scoffed.

"Shit." Eddie said blankly.

It was very strange and very confusing to watch themselves in each other's bodies. But also very interesting. Despite being in Richie's body, Eddie still had his usual stance and mannerisms; same with Richie.

Richie's lips quirked up into a smile, and Eddie looked over at him.

"What?" Eddie asked.

Richie paused for a moment. He laughed lightly (which made his heart jump a bit because it was _Eddie's_ laugh).

"I have to pee." He said.

Eddie stared in a mixture of shock, anger, and what might've been fear. "Seriously?"

"What, you don't? We just woke up." Richie shot back.

Eddie kept glaring. "No, I don't. And I'm not going to."

"What?" Richie scoffed. "You of all people should know about UTI's."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Eddie shot daggers with his eyes. Richie did not reply. Eddie continued, "Anyway, I don't care. It's your body, not mine."

"Um, _ouch._ Rude." Richie said. "Whatever, I have to take a piss."

"No!" Eddie protested. It was strange to hear his whining in Richie's voice, and Richie almost laughed. "I don't want you to look at my... dick." Eddie cleared his throat uncomfortably. "That's, like..."

"Gay?" Richie finished, raising his eyebrows.

Both of them remembered the kiss. Neither of them brought it up.

"Yeah, I guess." Eddie shrugged after a moment's silence. He shook his head as if to clear it. "It's weird, anyway. This is already weird enough."

Richie nodded and brushed his- technically Eddie's- hair out of his face, then looked at it in the mirror in mild amazement. "Dude, your hair's not even tangled!"

Eddie ran a hand through his- technically _Richie's_ \- curly hair. His fingers immediately got stuck. He wasn't surprised. Eddie had brushes at both his and Richie's houses reserved for Richie's hair only. They had been birthday presents, because Eddie had found out that Richie almost never brushed his hair. When they had sleepovers, Eddie would always brush Richie's hair for him in the morning. He kept reminding Richie to do it even when he wasn't there, but Richie never did. It only felt nice when Eddie did it.

Richie's eye caught on the empty soap bottle by the sink. He sighed in annoyance. "We're out of soap." He mumbled, turning around to replace it.

The soap bottles were on the very top shelf in the bathroom. It looked so much higher up now. Because it was; there was a significant height difference between him and Eddie, and being in Eddie's body made him a _lot_ shorter.

Richie reached up towards the shelf. _No chance._ He jumped a couple of times, straining to grab the soap, until he heard Eddie snickering at him.

Richie glared at him. "Something funny to you, Eds?"

Eddie gathered himself, still grinning. "How does it feel, Richie? Not being able to reach stuff?"

"Frustrating, but fine. I don't mind it." Richie lied, attempting to preserve what little dignity he had left. He jumped again, missing by a mile.

"Want my help?" Eddie offered. Richie could hear the smugness in his voice. _This sucked._

"No, I can get it." Richie looked around him for something to boost himself up on, or some alternative solution.

"Sure, I believe in you." Eddie said, but Richie knew it wasn't genuine, because Eddie was simply mocking what Richie would normally say to him.

Richie looked at the empty soap bottle again, and an idea dawned on him. He grabbed the bottle and brought it back, almost like a baseball, preparing to throw it. If he couldn't bring himself to the soap, he'd bring the soap to him.

"Jesus, Richie, _no!_ " Came a very exasperated voice. The tone was clearly Eddie's, but the voice was Richie's, which was very strange to hear. Eddie grabbed the arm that was wound back to throw and eased it down. "Do _not_ throw that. I'll get it for you."

Richie tossed the empty bottle into the trash can as Eddie reached up and easily grabbed a new one. Eddie handed it to Richie, who placed it on the sink.

"You're so fucking short." Richie said.

Suddenly, Eddie was not so smug anymore.

"Shut the fuck up, asshole. You're just a fucking giraffe." He shot back. This was what he usually replied with when Richie commented on his height.

"At least I'm not a fucking mouse." Again, the typical response. "Anyway, get out, I for real have to pee."

"Richie, cut it out." Eddie crossed his arms over his chest. It was actually semi-intimidating now that he was in a much taller body, especially from Richie's current perspective.

"I'm serious. You think I'm joking?" Richie scoffed. "I mean, your bladder's probably smaller than mine, too, dude. And your dick. Which is probably why you don't want me to see it."

Richie genuinely did have to pee, and getting Eddie all riled up and angry was probably not the way to go if he wanted solitude. But he just couldn't help himself.

"It is not!" Eddie protested.

"Then get the fuck out. I mean, unless you want a UTI." Richie raised his eyebrows.

That seemed to do the trick. Eddie hesitated for a moment, then huffed in frustration. "Fine, whatever. But don't, like, look at it."

"Gotta aim somehow!" Richie called after him as he shut the door behind him. Eddie was just too easy to annoy.

Richie did his business (he did try not to look as much as possible). Eddie had changed his clothes into the best thing he could find in Richie's closet- a plain t-shirt and jeans with holes in them (Richie had not bought them with the holes; he fell down a lot). Now, he was sitting cross-legged on Richie's bed, carefully brushing out his hair. He looked very serene and content doing that, until he noticed Richie walk in.

"Get dressed." Eddie instructed. He nodded towards the outfit he'd laid out on the bed beside him.

"Ew, I have to wear this?" Richie said, looking at the clothes. It was what Eddie normally wore in the summer- a t-shirt and shorts- and Richie found it very flattering on Eddie, but it was very much not his style.

Eddie glared for a second before speaking. "Yes, you do. Put it on, I've gotta talk to you."

Immediately, icy fear shot through Richie's veins. _The kiss. Eddie wanted to talk about the kiss, didn't he?_ This was it. Richie Tozier would be no more. He'd just melt into the floor. Preferably, he'd get his body back first, but either way worked; as long as his consciousness was gone.

Richie didn't complain as he grabbed the clothes and retreated to a corner of the room to put them on, heart thumping madly in his chest. Eddie, however, did not seem very bothered, continuing to gently brush. The sound would be a pleasant ambiance if it weren't for Richie's panic.

"What do you want to talk about?" Richie asked once he was finished, unceremoniously shoving the clothes he'd changed out of into Eddie's backpack. Eddie snatched the backpack from him and began neatly folding the clothes instead.

"You've got to get to my house soon or my mom will kill me- or, you, I guess." Eddie said.

Relief washed over Richie. _Thank god._ He didn't want to talk about the kiss.

"But I'm not you." Richie said.

"You are now, apparently. So you have to pretend to be me. Because if you act like Richie around my mom...?" Eddie sighed. "When this whole thing's over, it'll be _my_ ass."

"Sure, I can be you, easy." Richie nodded, grinning. He recoiled back in mock-disgust. "Ew, a speck of dust! Let me get out my hand sanitizer from my seventh fanny pack-"

Eddie grabbed his wrist, stopping him. Richie expected him to look angry, but he didn't. Some strange emotion was written in Eddie's face that Richie couldn't recognize. The fact that he was looking at his own face didn't make it easier to identify.

"I'm being serious." Eddie said, releasing Richie's arm, and Richie let them drop by his sides. "I've got to, like, brief you on how to act."

"Eds, it's not that big of a deal." Richie said. He was a little unsettled by how serious Eddie seemed.

"It is. You don't have to live with my mom." Eddie replied, looking a little pissed, and Richie felt guilty; he knew Eddie's mother was far from the best, and didn't want to downplay Eddie's issues. Eddie finished organizing his backpack and zipped it up, going back to brushing his hair out. "Look, basically, if you think you can do something, you can't. You can't go outside without asking. You can't watch TV without asking. You can't listen to rock music. If you put yourself in any situation that could possibly result in danger, you're going to be stuck in that house for at least a week. You don't want to deal with those consequences, and I don't want to deal with those consequences. So just _behave_ until we sort this out." Eddie gave Richie a look, putting the brush down on the bed. _"Please."_

Richie blinked. This was so out of character for Eddie. Eddie never talked about his home life. Sure, things seeped out, Richie knew Sonia Kaspbrak was an asshole, but details? Not a chance.

"Okay." He agreed quietly.

Honestly, Richie found the whole talk rather ridiculous. Surely Eddie was exaggerating- it was far from uncommon for Eddie to do that- so that Richie would behave. Yeah, Eddie's mom was strict, _really_ strict, but not _that_ strict. Right?

Eddie pulled out a comb from a side pocket of his backpack. "C'mere." He motioned for Richie to sit in front of him. Richie did, his much-shorter-than-usual legs dangling off the side of the bed. Eddie began neatly combing Richie's hair out, and Richie instantly melted into the touch. Jesus, Eddie was gentle with brushing out _curly_ hair; with straight hair, he was even gentler.

Once he was satisfied, Eddie tucked his comb back in his backpack, zipped it up, and stood up out of the bed. He walked around in front of Richie and shoved the backpack into his arms. Richie accepted it, smiling a little at Eddie's familiar aggression.

"Tell me," Eddie looked at Richie very seriously, but it was a different kind of serious than the worried state he'd been in earlier; it was more like a mother scolding her child. "That you will behave."

"I will behave." Richie echoed, the corners of his lips twitching up into a smile.

Eddie sighed wearily. "I guess you're off, then."

And with that, Richie began his journey to Sonia Kaspbrak's house.


End file.
